Welcome to the March Carnival of Children’s Literature

It is with the greatest of pleasure that I present to you today the March 2011 Carnival of Children’s Literature! The carnival is thronging with people so to help you find some delights I’ve tried a couple of new things.

I’ve highlighted first-timers in blue. If you’re a first-timer and I’ve inadvertently not highlighted you please let me know.

I’ve also selected my favourite posts of those submitted – ones that I was particularly glad to have discovered thanks to the Carnival, and I’ve highlighted those in pink! I really hope members of the kidlitosphere won’t see this as divisive. I merely wanted to highlight a few of the wonderful posts in this carnival which is overflowing with interesting ideas, reviews and comments.

So, without further do let’s join the crowd and see what everyone’s chatting about!

Read Aloud Dad presents an absolutely fantastic post – How Reading Aloud Made Me A Better Father posted at Read Aloud Dad. This one really made me smile. Read Aloud Dad candidly admits “My babies’ naturally limited (non-existent) ability to respond verbally to my words was somehow an excuse for me to limit my own communication” but then goes on to explain how reading books to his twins saved the day: “Children’s books almost magically opened up the the channels of communication. They broke down all the walls.”

Shelf-employed reviews The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen posted at Shelf-employed. “It’s like Mark Twain for kids” says Shelf Employed – sounds good doesn’t it! There’s also an interesting final paragraph about cover illustrations for historical novels – should they celebrate or hide their historical identities?

Angela Craft presents Book Thoughts: Connections to History posted at Bookish Blather. In her post Angela highlights a book about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, “an important part of history – of immigration, worker’s rights, and women’s rights“, but one she only learned about through a book, and not at school.

Juliette Harrisson presents Pop Classics: The Roman Mysteries: The Gladiators from Capua posted at Pop Classics. A glowing review from Juliette tells how a tripartite narrative enables readers to witness the inaugural Games in what was to become known as the Colosseum as participants, as the people in the best seats in the house, and also from the very top tiers of the amphitheatre. The novel doesn’t shy away from gore and may not be for every child, but on the basis of Juliette’s review I’ll certainly be looking out for this book.

Jax at Making it up has a two-part interview with author and illustrator Rebecca Elliott – you can read part 1 here and part 2 here. One of the questions Jax poses to Elliott is “What do you think the impact of e-readers is likely to be on picture books – will it adversely affect sales?” What would your answer be? Do click through to see how Rebecca Elliott answered!

Catherine Nichols presents An Interview with CYBILS Winner Jacqueline Jules posted at The Cath in the Hat. Jules was winner in the Short Chapter Books category for Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off. In the interview she talks about her reaction to winning a Cybil, how she started writing and what she’d like as her own personal superpower!

In her post Let’s Continue Reading for the Joy of It – Simcha/Joy posted at forwordsbooks Kathy Bloomfield presents a round up of books that have brought her joy and kept her up into the small hours. Whilst she doesn’t want us to loose any sleep, she’s happy to provide “a note to your teacher/boss explaining why the book kept you up so late that you overslept and were late for school/work” should we be swept away by the books she’s chosen!

Valarie Budayr has uncovered a secret chocolate ball recipe which can turn a witch into a mouse and she shares it with us alongside her review of The Witches by Roald Dahl posted at Jump Into A Book. The recipe sound divine and very easy for kids to make themselves.

Analisse Reyes presents Judged by the Cover posted at Publishing 101. Analisse recently received the Preliminary Cover Proof for her new picture book. “It seems as if my publishing journey is coming to an end, but this (marketing) is only the beginning.”

Rachel from Even in Australia has a round up of rain and umbrella themed picture books in her post A Torrent of Good Books. Have you got any umbrella picture book recommendations you could add to Rachel’s list?

As part of a month long look at picture books that have been made into films, Sandie Mourão presents And the winner is … The Lost Thing posted at Picturebooks in ELT. Of Tan’s film The Lost Thing, Sandie says it is “goosepimply brilliant,” and made her return to the picture book with fresh eyes, aware of new, previously overlooked details.

If you liked Amy’s list you’ll definitely want to check out Katie Sorene’s list of 8 Books to Teach Your Kids About the World posted at Tripbase. There is a some overlap with Amy’s list but also some different books suggested. What book would you have included in the list?

Tammy Flanders presents Lives torn apart posted at Apples With Many Seeds. With all that is happening in the Middle East at the moment Tammy’s review of Out of Iraq: refugees’ stories in words, paintings and music by Sybella Wilkes is very timely.

Kelly from The Lemme Library brings two posts to the carnival – Book Talk Tuesday, part of a weekly series where she invites teachers, parents and librarians to link to a recent book talk or book review that can be used by others and Tween Fiction, “the best Tween Fiction from the last 12 months.“

Laura Grace Weldon presents a moving and profoundly personal post about the impact one particular book had on her as a child. How The Secret Garden Saved Me, posted at Laura Grace Weldon, is all about the power of a book to provide solace and hope even during the darkest times.

Natasha Worswick brings this month’s carnival to a close with a post all about children’s books featuring only children, ie children with no siblings: Does only have to mean lonely? Lots of books feature three children in a family, lots of books help prepare a child for the arrival of a sibling, but are there any books which celebrate a child who has no brother or sister?

It’s been an honour to host this month’s carnival. If you submitted an article but it hasn’t appeared here, please leave me a comment and I’ll update the post – it’s been so busy that there is a chance one or two submissions may have slipped through the net.

Thank you so much for this thoughtful, organized carnival! I found and subscribed to at least 5 new blogs- and that was on my 1st read through! I know how much work this takes, and I appreciate it so much!
Kelly

Zoe

Hello Kelly, Christ, Amy, Liveotherwise and Jennifer, Hope you find something new to savour. It’s a large carnival and I hope people won’t feel it inappropriate that I’ve highlighted some posts in particular – I just wanted to aid navigation and make reading the carnival enjoyable rather than daunting!

Wow! What a lot of work…and what a great looking carnival. Breaking things into categories was very helpful for me as a reader. No way I could do all the links at once, but one category at a time? Absolutely!

Zoe, the Carnival looks terrific! I like the categories and have no problem with you highlighting particular posts. This is very easy to navigate. I do feel bad for the hosts since this looks like a ton of work. Is the Carnival getting too big?

What an excellent job you did, Zoe. Not only did you include all of these extraordinary blogs, but you read them all as well. This must have kept you up until the wee hours. Your organization is brilliant and your design beautiful. Thank you so much for all your hard work.
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What a rich offering. I’ve got a glass of wine and a fire in the fireplace, so I’m ready to start clicking and savoring each one. Thank you for not only including my post but honoring me with the coveted pink highlight. That’s why I’m celebrating with this glass of wine!

Wow, great carnival Zoe, and so much work with all of these posts! I really like the way you have organized them. The categories are brilliant and I don’t think the highlighting is divisive, it’s a great way to highlight your favorites!

Zoe,
Your carnival is goosepimply brilliant 🙂
So many posts and so nicely presented. Thank you for all yr hard work and enthusiasm for everyone’s work. And thank you for making me pink, I’m very proud.
Sandie

Thank you so much for hosting such a wonderful carnival. I’m enjoying visiting everyone’s sites and getting to know them better. I’ve really been enjoying your site and look forward to coming back often. Be well and thanks again.

[…] you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend that you check out the March Carnival of Children’s Literature at Playing by the Book. Zoe Toft did an amazing job of categorizing more than 50 posts on topics […]